“Just think how long they sat him when they thought he was healthy”, a source told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

If the Sixers and Embiid would elect to go the route of a second surgery, it would clearly put him out for the entire 2015-16 season, and put his long-term future in great question. According to the Inquirer’s sources, Embiid’s latest setback could be career-threatening. He missed his entire rookie season after surgery to fix a stress fracture last June. Oden was considered a can’t-miss prospect as well – so much so that he was drafted over Kevin Durant – but knee and foot injuries derailed his career entirely. President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Sam Hinkie released this statement on Saturday evening: “As we previously communicated, we have spent the last several weeks working closely with Joel and his representatives to further evaluate Joel’s foot following the results of the most recent Connecticut scan”.

Embiid was sidelined for the 2014-15 season due to the longstanding problem, after being drafted by the 76ers. “No change as of yet”, Hinkie said on Thursday.

He was projected to go number one overall to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but they passed up on the injured big man to take Andrew Wiggins instead.

This is very unfortunate for the 76ers and Embiid, who has yet to play in an National Basteball Association game, not even preseason or training camp.

The 76ers had an unimpressive record of 18-64 last season, but the team’s current roster of Carl Landry, Nerlens Noel, and Jahlil Okafor gives the city of Philadelphia a lot of hope. Despite reports of the seven-footer running and dunking at practices late in the season, Sixers management has acknowledged that his foot has not healed as well as was initially expected.